Fitness, Kids, Recipes and Life

Life

It’s been a work in progress. I’ve noticed little changes here and there. But it finally happened. My little girl is no longer “little”. I used the (“) because she will ALWAYS be my little girl. At 10, she’s no longer little. In the past few weeks things have happened. She now sits in the front seat of the car; and was very proud that she could call shotgun on the oldest and actually mean it. She’s begging for Jordans for the school year, so she can be cool. She doesn’t understand why she can’t have a smart phone. You know, because all her friends have phones. I’m no longer allowed to give her kisses or say “I love you” to her when I drop her off at camp. Apparently, it’s embarrassing. The most notable change? I’m no longer Mommy. I’m just Mom. Oh, it’s said often, and usually with some sort of demand. But that’s the change that’s breaking my heart a little. Mom. Not Mommy. We’ve gone from this:

to

Dear fantastical daughter of mine:

I know you are growing up. You are growing up, and I’m growing old. Those are facts. Here are a few other facts for you. Fact #1: I’m also proud that you get to call shotgun, and mean it. But now the game is real. If Allison calls it before you, suck it up and get your ass in the back seat. Those are the rules sweetheart. Just learn to be smart enough to call it for the ride back. Fact #2: I don’t know what fucking Jordans are. Like any supportive mother, I Googled it. News Flash: You will get sneakers I can afford. Your feet grow too fast for me to spend $100 on sneakers every 3 months. Fact #3: You my love, will not have a phone for at least another 3 years. I don’t give a shit that all of your friends have smart phones. They probably have Jordans, too. I DON’T CARE. And if you keep asking me for one, you’ll be 16 before you can hand out your digits. Or your dad pays for it. You know the answer to that. Fact #4: I gave birth to you. I labored for NUMEROUS hours with no epidural. When I drop you off at camp, I will give you kisses. I will tell you I love you. No one goes through that much pain unless they truly love something; that my dear is you. I am your mom. Your mother. Your Mommy. I will embarrass you for the rest of your life. Deal with it. Just think of it as payment for all those temper tantrums you threw in Target when you were 2. For the record, oh wee one, for me to tell you that I love you isn’t embarrassing. It’s essential. I need you to know that I LOVE YOU. And given the amount of times I have to tell you to clean your room, it will take a while for it to sink in.

After much consideration, just to boost my traffic, I’m going to post pictures of half-naked men. Anyone object? See, on my Facebook page, I could post the most delicious recipe and get 3 likes. When I post a picture of a well built gentleman, with a screwdriver and no shirt, my page goes crazy. And I was thinking, man I wish my blog page got this much traffic!! Forget the Seafood Pot Pie and Snowman Ornaments, shirtless men seems to be the way to go!

I’m kidding, of course. You’re stuck with Seafood Pot Pie. Snowman Ornaments will be coming up on a later post. They are currently a work in progress and glitter is everywhere, totally driving the ol’ man crazy! It’s great!

Besides driving the ol’ man crazy, things have been busy. I did photos of my nieces and my daughter and the cutest lil’ newborn this weekend. When your youngest is 9, you forget how little they are at 16 days old. She was precious. Naturally, Ms. Autumn and my nieces are precious too. I mean, they are related to me.

Summer, Alyssa and Autumn

So precious. Right? Every morning, I ask Autumn how she slept. Why? Have no clue. Probably to see how bitchy, crabby, I meant crabby, she will be for the day. One day last week, this is how the conversation went:

Me: How’d you sleep?

Autumn: My back hurts. My bed is too hard. I need a sleep number bed. Yeah. That would be perfect. I would probably set it at 25.

Me: Staring at her with the blank look of “where the eff do you get these things from?” I don’t even know what to say to that. I almost told her to ask Santa for it. Total DUH moment. She knows I’m Santa.

Didn’t I mention you were stuck with Seafood Potpies? “Stuck” is a little harsh. They really are delicious. And the vegetables are cooked right in. The kids can’t possibly pick out every single pea. See my rant about peas here.

There is nothing else to say, other than I’ve neglected my fantastical blog for way too long! I’m so sorry friends. Let’s see if I can sum up why. Life. My blog is about life, and yet life is why I have abandoned this wonder work of art. Even as we speak, I am cocktailing it while I’m typing, just trying to get a little relaxation in before the weekend is over.

First and foremost, I would like to send my sincerest apologies to the folks at Blogging University, as I did not partake in the last 2 weeks of Writing 101. Thank goodness we didn’t pay per credit hour. Slacker, just slacker. Any “F” earned is deserved.

Life. So what’s happening? All 3 kids passed on to the next grade. Not so sure how Allison did it, but she did. Barely. I don’t think there will be any college in her future. I wish she would look into learning a trade. Bobby, passed without issue. In fact, earned 3rd place in the Art Show, and even made honor roll. Ms. Autumn, on to 4th grade! And with 4th grade comes her burning desire to play French Horn. I said it. French Horn. I ask her why? “Because it’s curly.” Good fun.

I’m still marathon training, working with Autumn on soccer, taking pictures, working on 15yr old attitudes. We went to NYC to see Autumn’s grandmother. (Her father’s mom). We did this little trip against the recommendation of the therapist. We shall see how much this sets her back. Hey, it’s job security for him!

The ol’man, Autumn and I going into the city

He had never been to NYC and Autumn has been there, but doesn’t remember anything. There was only one thing that we determined from this trip. Neither the Ol’ man or I can read a friggin map. I cannot tell you how many times we had to back track, turn around or ask questions. We were ridiculous. In a city with 4o million restaurants, we went to the same one 2x (5 Napkin Burger). At least, it came highly recommended by an old high school friend who lives there. It was fantastical. I love burgers, it’s my favorite food. The first time we went, I ordered the Mahi tacos. Seriously, what is wrong with me?! Don’t answer that, even if it’s just in your head. Highlights? Times Square. Carlos Bakery, FAO, M&M store, Bryant Park, Central Park, and the Statue of Liberty. The best part? My ex-mother in law pulling out my wedding album. Yeah, Autumn isn’t the only one who is going to need additional therapy after this little excursion.

My friend opened her photography studio as well when I was my unintentional hiatus from blogging. I helped with the opening for that. That was a lot of fun! Even my ol’ man helped. He sanded and spray painted the ladder we used to hold the food. Take a look at these little beauties!

I also made the cherry cheesecake shooters and the Oreo balls that are in my Superbowl party post. (My mission in life is to figure out how to link..working on it) Everything was super tasty, but the Oreo balls are addictive. As evidence by my increasing hip size.

So tomorrow, we have a Milkshake Throwdown. The elderly gentleman that lives in my home thinks his are better than mine. Ha! Puleeese! You think I weighed over 300lbs from eating salad? OH NO! Kids will be the judges. Will take pictures and post recipes tomorrow.

Where did it go? It seems like yesterday was Friday. Seriously, I need more time off of work. Unlike the shenanigans of last weekend, this one was relatively uneventful. What happened last weekend you ask? Good times with some great family. Oh and a speeding ticket. And not for me :). NOT MY FAULT!! Well, sort of my fault. When the ol’ man rolled the the window, and the first thing the trooper asks “Who has been drinking?”….you know it was a good time! FOR THE RECORD: THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE HAD NOT BEEN DRINKING!! Not my fault he was speeding.

Who doesn’t like the weekends? I’m at the point in my life where anytime that you’re not answering to the drama of the work place, it has to be a good day 🙂 Back in the day, as I like to say B.C. (before children), the weekends were for shenanigans baby!! Ask anyone in Alpha Sigma! Up all night Friday, sleep in late, and do it all again on Saturday. Now parenthood. It’s now all about soccer practice, homework, grocery shopping, meal planning, cleaning yadda yadda yadda. Most days, I wouldn’t have it any other way. But it’s Saturday night, and the laundry still needs to be done, the bathrooms need cleaning, and the weekly meal plan needs to be done. Much to my late adulthood OCD disappointment, it’s not gettin’ done tonight. I’m obviously not up to trouble tonight as I sit here typing, but I have to learn that it’s ok to have a shenanigan weekend once in a while. The laundry isn’t going any where.

How’s everyone’s weekend going? No worries, I will post a recipe or two tomorrow 🙂 promise!

It’s Monday. Again. It’s funny how that happens. But it’s St. Patrick’s Day!! I look horrible in green and I’m only a little bit Irish, but I think the story is everyone is Irish on March 17th. I don’t get crazy drunk for this particular occasion. I save that for when everyone else is NOT getting crazy drunk. Yeah, I’m a rebel like that.

It was a rough weekend. There was a lot of frustration and bleck moments. I had my “mom of the year” award handed to me. Moms, you know what I’m talking about. The point where your kid pushes you that point and you lose your shit. You feel horrible after and you think to yourself, “mother of the year”, that’s me! I won it early this year, (usually it happens in summer) now it’s out of the way and we can carry on.

Carry on to what you ask? Well, corned beef of course! I’ve never made it. No one in the house, much to my surprise, has ever had it. So today was a Monday of firsts. I knew the kids would not have anything to do with cabbage, so that wasn’t even attempted. We did however, have the traditional potato. Okay, so not the traditional potato. I made Ree Drummond’s Crash Hot Potatoes, slightly altered. The beef recipe itself, not exciting. Taken directly from the package. With beer. In a crockpot. Okay, so not directly from the package.

Robbin’s Not- Directly- from- the -Package- Corned Beef

Corned Beef with the season packet

Water

1 Can Beer

Put the beef in the crockpot. Sprinkle the season packet over the meat. Sip the beer, pour some. Sip again, pour some, repeat. I kid! Just pour in the can of beer, and enough water to cover the meat. Slow cook on low for about 9 hours. Drink a beer or two.

Crash Hot Potatoes (altered slightly)

12 Red potaotes (small ones)

3 Tbs Olive Oil

Kosher Salt, Pepper, Rosemary, Onion powder all to taste

Boil potatoes (12 or as many as you need) in salted water until fork tender.

Line a sheet pan with cooking spray. Line potatoes up, leaving room in between potatoes.

With a fork or potato masher, crush potatoes. (almost like you do a peanut butter cookie, one way then the other)

I live in upstate New York. Snow is pretty common for us from November to March. This year seemed particularly crazy with the friggin’ snow, when in reality, it was probably closer to a “normal” winter. Today sucked. Schools closed last night for today. On the way to work it was raining. I thought, “HA! Another blown-out-proportion weather forecast!” Guess what? Joke’s on me. By noon, all unnecessary travel was banned. And It. Hasn’t. Stopped. Snowing. And Mother Nature is giving us a lavish gift of an additional 8″-10″ of snow tonight. Here’s hoping I can get out of the driveway to get to work tomorrow!

It’s the WEEKEND!!!!! Finally and thank goodness! It has been a very, very long week with court date, white knuckle driving, and illness. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m quite ready for winter to be over!

This week unfortunately, wasn’t filled with any exciting new recipes. I didn’t get any blogging or scrapbooking done. Yet, on the bright side, I made strides toward a healthier lifestyle. For two weeks in a row, I’ve only had one cup of coffee per day. Which for me is huge, since I think coffee should be a food group. Seriously, it should. Now I have to focus back on exercise!! Once I can breathe again, I’m on it! Only 1 cup of coffee and exercise? I will be ready for a bikini by May.

In other news, the Iditarod starts today. Not too many people care about the race, (everyone in my house included), but I used to live in Alaska, so for me it’s almost up there with the Super Bowl. Autumn and I will be having a Mushing party. Any excuse to party! 🙂 We will try to keep it healthy. I have a feeling after this week though, some adult hot cocoa for mommy just might be involved.

In completely unrelated news, cocktails and Pinterest. I love Pinterest. I pin lots of cocktails. And hot men. mmmmmmmm. Sorry, back to cocktails. Now, I’m a not too much of a girly girl. I don’t have time. But my drinks? Completely girl. The more fru-fru the better. Keep in mind, I’m not a bartender. I leave that to the professionals. But at $10 a drink, I thought I would start experimenting at home. It’s got to be cheaper! First Pinterest cocktail experiment? Success! The ol’ man thought it tasted like gasoline. But he drinks beer. Not cocktails. I say, experiment, make it to your liking and enjoy!

It’s no secret I love men. I always have. In second grade I had a crush on Geoff Montgomery. In fifth grade I loved loved loved John Taylor from Duran Duran (Who am I kidding, I still do!). Some boys have touched my heart, some have made me bitter. Some men are real jerks, some are totally awesome. But there is one thing that all of you have in common…you are the biggest babies when you are sick! At the current moment, I’m addressing the ol’ man. Now, I fully understand that colds suck. I am aware that when one has trouble breathing, it can make you a little cranky, and I agree. I do not agree however, that you are able to take 3 days off from life because you have the freaking sniffles. Women don’t really get that luxury. We are required by law, at least I’m pretty sure it’s by law, that we keep going. The dishes, cooking, laundry, going to work all still need to be done by us. And heaven forbid, seriously, that you would actually help if we were sick enough to need it. Silly us, all of those things are still waiting for us to do at the end of the day, sick or not.

I love you to pieces. I really do. With all of my heart, I can assure you that you are NOT dying. I’ve watched people die. Hell, I watched my mother die. I promise, you will make it through this crisis the medical professionals label the common cold. And when your generosity passes this horrendous medical condition to me..so will I. All while functioning at full speed.